Category: Uncategorized

Written by: Nur Fatin binti Abdullah

In this 21^st century, media has bought us both opportunities and challenges in our global boundary less world. With this advance of technologies, things can be misinterpreted and it can be simply manipulated irresponsible people in the virtual world.  Not everything that we seen in today’s media can be simply trust. Therefore, by simply reading the title or hearing from mouth to mouth without doing your own research or get any validation from trusted is an inappropriate action as the dissemination of this kind of information without us knowingly hurts an unwanted party. The act is just like slander and it is common to know that the impact of this defamation is too big as it is  can give a negative impact on the society at the time because nowadays technology that is just at the tip of the finger.

According to research, the internet users in 2017, 76.9% Malaysian citizens are internet users and 89.4% is from the amount has internet access from their mobile phone.

Recently, TM Malaysia has launched a new campaign warning consumers against fake news concentrating for the mainly on digital and out-of-home (OOH) advertising platform. It features the slogans “Sharing fake news is akin to telling lies” (Kongsi berita palsu umpama menipu) and “Prevent defamation on the internet” (Cegah fitnah internet). The campaign also feature #Fitnet .

The campaign was launched during the same time as the anti fake news bill and it was coincidence. TM at that time aims to raise awareness about fact-checking website and combat fake news. Under the Anti-Fake News Bill, those convicted of disseminating false content would be jailed or fined up to RM500,000 or both.

The previous government said that bill expects to “safeguard the public” against the spread of phony news, while keeping up the privilege to the right to speak freely and articulation under the Federal Constitution. Blogs, public forums and social media accounts are also covered by the bill.

The Controversial Fake News Law: New Government Ruling

The move has been described as attempt to silence the opposition which now is the new government. After the 14^th general election, it is intense situation where there is rumors say it will be abolished or it will be redefine. After the poll, the new ruling government plead that they will make the law clear to media and public the define meaning of fake law. Initially, it was brought up by former government with guidelines to restrict the spreading of fake news not to restrict the freedom of speech as claim by law minister on that period.

The offended of fake news by means whoever those maliciously spreading fake news whenever they are will be penalized if Malaysia or Malaysian citizen were affected. In the Southeast Asia, including Singapore and Philippines, the major concern is how to tackle the “fake news” but what human right activist afraid of the enforcement of fake news law will restrain the free speech rights.

Written by: Nadira Shahida Shaharuddin

“Only changes in mindsets can extend the frontiers of the possible” – Winston Churchill

Malaysia’s persistence to develop and upgrade the present infrastructure has resulted her being one of the well-developed among the newly industrialised countries. Malaysia can claim of having world class facilities in terms of highways, airports, skyscrapers and many more. However, even though Malaysia is determined to progress on her infrastructure and facilities to first class, third class mentality still prevails among most Malaysians.

In a statement made in the Ninth Malaysia Plan 2006-2010, by the former Prime Minister of Malaysia Tun Dato’ Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, stated that “There is a danger of the country possess first-class infrastructure but third-class mentality. In order to pursue further growth and development, Malaysia will need to fortify its moral and ethical foundations while enhancing its mindset and attitude towards excellence and performance.” Based on the statement, it is clearly understood that in order to achieve excellence and performance, we need to enhance our mindsets and attitudes. Therefore, there is a need to nurture “First Class Mentality”. In the second thrust of the National Mission in Ninth Malaysia Plan 2006-2010, it also stated that it is very imperative to produce a society with “First Class Mentality” for the nation’s future competitive advantage in this new era.

However, the lack of basic social etiquette and manners among most Malaysians speak volumes on their mentality and social behaviour. Despite the frequent references to “First Class Mentality” in recent years, the effort of finding supporting literatures on the subject was a ‘pleasant’ surprise to find the term is used mostly only by Malaysians and a search hit on Google returns only articles by Malaysians. There are also some articles from the media that emphasised on Malaysian manners and social etiquette but sadly portraying the lack of mentality required. Even with modern infrastructure, it is disappointing to know that it does not reflect the mentality or the attitude of most citizens.

Third class mentality are evidently seen when people do not clean up themselves at public areas such as recreational areas and self-service restaurants, when people park their cars in spots that are designated for the handicapped, indiscriminately throwing rubbish, smoking in non-smoking areas, people occupy seats that are meant for the pregnant and infirm in public train or buses, the wet public toilet, and traffic offenders. The list of discourteous behaviours and bad habits can go on and on and on. In simplified words, among Malaysians there are some who lack of basic social etiquette, manners and empathy.

However, nowadays, as we turn to the local radios, community messages are being played repeatedly and most of these non-commercial ads are dedicated to promoting basic social etiquettes, ranging from obeying simple traffic rules, queuing, flushing the toilet after every use, plus many more. It is comforting to know that there are so many community messages to promote good values among Malaysians. On the contrary, is it not odd when people have to be reminded every day of some very basic propriety to conduct themselves properly in public? Why do messages remind Malaysians that the lack of basic social etiquette permits daily reminders of such basic stuff on how to behave in public? Base on what is happening in Malaysian society, yes, we do need these reminders. These reminders help to instill good values and social etiquette that could one day influence society’s behaviour.

There also have been numerous national campaigns to promote courtesy and noble values among Malaysians. Having campaigns to promote good values are well and truly essential thus it could result for people to put it into practice daily and make it a norm for them. Moreover, to practice these values, it should start in early childhood, when and where children could absorb what they learn and adopt good behaviour as well as attitude. Parents play a significant role when it comes to their children’s mental development and upbringing. With that done, all good traits fall into place in their daily life, thus developing their mentality in a positive way.

It is undoubtedly known that manners and etiquette play an important role in nurturing a society that has “First Class Mentality”. With reminders of good manners and social etiquette to society, they will be able to show their respect to other individuals in both formal or informal environments thus decreasing misunderstanding and conflict in communication exchanges and behaviours. The elimination of bad habits, embracing positive attitudes and new ways of thinking is then possible, creating the desired society.

Written by Nur Shazwani Roslan

In a recent survey of the top 20 countries to invest in, Malaysia made it to the number 4 position, and the best part is, for once, we triumphed over Singapore which was placed in fifth position.

According to Business Insider report in March 2018, the top 20 list was a result from a global poll by World Bank, which gathered responses from 6,000 global business decision makers, which countries they chose as the best to invest in. Malaysia was described as “a highly skilled workforce” and “pro-business government” which were the main deciding factors for foreign direct investment. Kuala Lumpur is now rapidly becoming a destination of choice for global organisations who are looking to establish an Asian head office. In fact, more than 5000 companies from over 40 countries have established operations in Malaysia.
With this continuing trend, doing business in Malaysia sound like good business sense for companies to come in here. Having said that, it is pertinent to look into the business communication culture in Malaysia. As an investor who is now considering to make a move to Malaysia one of the question you should ask yourself is, what type of communication style can you expect from such a mixed-race culture?

First of all, before looking into the communication part, it is best to understand the business culture in Malaysia. Briefly, it is important to note that Malaysia is a multicultural country that you will encounter will mainly come from three major ethnic backgrounds; Malay, Chinese and Indian. It is a complex mix of different ethnicity all working and living together. This mix has produced a very distinctive local business culture which you need to understand before starting to build relationships and sell your good or services. Traditionally, the Chinese ran most business activities in the country but changing demographics and pro-Malay legislation have altered this picture over the past few decades.

Here are some pointers of the general working practices in Malaysia

First Meeting

• When meeting your Malaysian counterparts for the first time, a firm handshake is the standard form of greeting.  However, you should only shake hands with a Malaysian businesswoman if she initiates the gesture.  Otherwise a nod or a single bow is appropriate.
• With such an array of cultures in Malaysia addressing Malaysians properly can be difficult.  It is advised to find out in advance how you should address the person you are to meet.  Generally speaking, a Malaysian’s first name is individually given while the second and sometimes third name indicate those of the father and the grandfather.  In some cases the words ‘bin’ (son of) or ‘binti’ (daughter of) can be added after the given name.
• Gifts are not usually exchanged as they may be perceived as a bribe but in the event that you are presented with a gift, it is customary to accept it with both hands and wait until you have left your Malaysian colleagues before opening it.  Be sure to reciprocate with a gift of equal value in order to avoid loss of face.Face
• In business setting, Malaysians are influenced by the cultural value of saving face. Face of a person is very important as losing face of another person in a conversation by embarrassing them is considered to be very impolite. Therefore, Malaysians prefer to give bad news in indirect ways through the use of coded messages, which may be difficult to pick up on. Malaysian communication styles are characterised by extreme forms of politeness and diplomacy.For that reason, we will hardly hear the word “No”.The underlying drive is to ensure the preservation of the existing harmony within a group or to develop a sense of harmony with new contacts. Thus communication can, at times, seem overly formal, especially true when carrying bad news or when giving information to superiors.

Language

• English is widely spoken and very many people have a near-fluent command of the language. Superficially, therefore, communication is generally much easier than in some other countries in the region.
• If your business in Malaysia requires interaction with Malaysian government officials, ensure that all communication takes place in the language of Bahasa Malaysia.  The majority of transactions and correspondence with Malaysian companies, however, will generally be conducted in English

Value of time

•  When scheduling business meetings in Malaysia one must take into consideration the importance of prayer times in this predominantly Muslim country.  Fridays are a particularly religious day of the week and if possible meetings should not be scheduled on this day.
• Attitude to punctuality varies according to which nationality you are doing business with.  The Chinese expect punctuality whereas both ethnic Malays and Indian business people have a more relaxed attitude towards time.  As a general rule, you will be expected to be punctual so it is advised to arrive to business appointments on time.It is often good to spend time going through the social conversations before discussing any actual business issues.
• This ice-breaking is a vital part of the relationship-building process and its importance should never be underestimated. Irrespective of their ethnicity, Malaysians normally like talking about family. Suitable topics of conversation would be family, sports (especially football), your impressions of Malaysia, your organisation, future plans. It is quite normal for someone to ask how many children you have and where is your spouse currently at or whether she is working.

  

Finally, bear in mind that Malaysians are very friendly, but also reserved. However, be aware that what is said is not necessarily what is meant. Look for the coded-meaning behind all communication. Best of luck!

The everyday life is full of impressions, surroundings and illustrations that embody the desire of well-being and an active lifestyle. This could be used for marketing purposes as a strategy, to show people how good they can feel from using a product and through value creation persuade customers to want a product or service. As technology evolves so do the marketing strategies of brands. A relatively new example of this evolutionary phenomenon is Instagram and is one of the platforms on social media. On social media one can share sophisticated creations at no cost and thereby reach millions of users instantly. Companies that desire to market themselves visually are able to do this through surroundings and illustrations via Instagram. Additionally, it is an effective and widely used tool for the purpose of communicating a brand. Marketing communications are used to mediate the brand to its potential customers, often resulting in the creation of a dialogue and further establishment of a relationship between customer and company.

Social media is one part of marketing communications and argues that social media is an effective tool for companies to communicate their brand due to the growing numbers of users. Instagram is one of the platforms on social media and the name means instant telegram. It is an application that allows the use of photos or short clips to promote or share knowledge between users. When  using  the  application  for  branding  purposes  due  to  the  increased pressure on mobile marketing it is good to have a profile that is credible and powerful. For the example the current is, Faiz Roslan which totally used his Instagram for self-branding. By doing that he will exposed to public and the brand will approach him for paid review. Same goes to local celebrity such as Neelofa, she apply the same method as additional or main income.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Picture 1: Faiz Roslan

 

 

 

 

 

Picture 2: Neelofa

Many brands have websites where it is possible to purchase the products displayed in the pictures on Instagram and one purpose of the Instagram account is to generate traffic to the  website  and  in  turn  make  prospects  buy  products .  In addition, clarifies that the website also generates traffic to the Instagram account and thereby the account gets more followers and increasing the awareness of the brand.

Brand identity has been explained as the way a company conveys themselves, their core associations indicating the company’s promise to its customers.  It is through their brand identity that the company communicates its uniqueness and character. Brand identity origins from the sender’s (the company) side. It is created internally and for an identity to consistently carry what manager’s desire customers to perceive, managers need to be clear and concise when delivering the message. Moreover, the sender must know who they wish to reach and what responses they wish to get. Companies communicate and advertise in order to present and strengthen their brand identity. However that brand identity creation takes place even before one communicates the wanted identity through a marketing channel.  Furthermore, a strong brand identity can help to build trust between the brand and customer, and thus it can be a source of differentiation. Customers play an important  role  since  they  are  the  ones  who  define  and  redefine  the  identity. Brand identity consists of the following components: personality, culture, and self-image, which all allow the company to specify their brand’s meaning

If a company has a focus on their target group and does research regarding it, one can with adapted pictures that are appealing to the specific target group achieve a similar brand image to brand identity. Additionally if one has a focus on creating a strong and long term relationship with customers through pictures, comments and hashtags, it may build trust and thereby receive loyal followers with a greater understanding of the brand. The creation of relationships via Instagram allows one to be more personal and enables customers to identify themselves with the brand, which indicate a stronger bond between the two parties. This then implies that there is a possibility to bring brand identity and brand image closer together.

Written by: Ros Syafiqah Roslan

Who is Ariff AB? Who is he you might ask. Malaysians know Yuna and Zee Avi (Malaysian artists who made it big overseas). Majority of Malaysians haven’t heard of Ariff AB till now. With only a mere 222 subscribers on his Youtube channel and 267 followers on his Soundcloud page, he is however, an uprising Malaysian Indie singer/songwriter who is currently trying to make it big in London. Using Ariff AB as his stage name, he started his journey in singing and songwriting without having any experience or background in music. After he realized that there is no hope for him to be a sportsman, he then made a decision to jump into the music world. Ariff who usually performs with his dark glasses on; indoors or outdoors, says that as a shy person he wears dark glasses to make him feel less inhibited.

It all started when Ariff took part in a singer-songwriter competition in Kuala Lumpur in 2009. He failed at his first, second, third, and even his fourth attempt on winning the competition. That would be an indication to ‘STOP WHAT YOU ARE DOING’ for some, but not for Ariff AB. He finally made it to the finals and won the competition at his fifth attempt by performing his first composition,‘Heart Train’. As a result of his victory, he received an invitation to perform internationally at the World Expo in Shanghai, China. Since then he performed internationally in countries such as Singapore, Indonesia, and Thailand and in 2013, he went to the UK and became more exposed to the music industry there after he created his Soundcloud page. He gained more listeners when he released ‘Transmission’, a mini album that contains six tracks and uploaded one of his songs, ‘Bye Bye Baby’ onto Soundcloud which then became a hit.

Source: mstar.com.my

Ariff AB describe his music genre as Alternative Indie Freak Folk. Freak Folk? Is there such genre? Apparently, there is! Freak Folk is a sub-genre of folk music in which its artists use mainly acoustic instruments but inject elements of avant-garde and psychedelic influences that produces uncommon sounds, lyrical themes, and vocal styles. ‘Rundown’, one of Ariff’s songs, made it on BBC Radio 1 and 2 and that was when he was contacted by Patrick Lyons, a New Musical Express (NME) award-winner. He became Ariff’s talent agent and pointed out which direction should Ariff take and managed to secure several gigs and radio interviews. As Ariff recalls in his interview with the New Strait Times,

“I had goosebumps when I heard Rundown on the radio”

 This talented young man has rubbed shoulders with a circle of talented people by performing opening shows for Leanne Robinson, Russell Swallow, Kal Lavelle, and Fiona Bevan (she co-wrote ‘Little Things’ with Ed Sheeran).

Source: Secret Sessions.co.uk

His dark/mellow upbeat tunes and energetic showmanship on stage has earned him an invitation to perform at the Youtube-Google headquarters in London and made its mark in being the first Malaysian male singer/songwriter to perform there. Hard work and dedication is needed in the journey to seek fame as an independent artiste. As Ariff shares his experience and challenges in the UK with the Malay Mail, he said that;

“It’s not like when you are in the UK, you can feel relaxed and take it easy. The demand is always higher as a foreigner since priorities are given to the locals. So as a foreigner I needed to prove that I was better than them”

In 2016, this singer/songwriter signed with a British record label, Decca Records (a part of Universal Music Group). Decca Records, established in 1929, is a legendary British record label as it produces some of the greatest recording artists such as Billie Holiday, Louis Armstrong, Judy Garland and more. Ariff AB’s second album, ‘Blue Skeleton’, consisting of 11 tracks is published by Decca Records. What’s interesting is, even in the world of digital music, his first debut album ‘Transmission’ managed to hit 3000 copies sold! Two tracks from Ariff’s second album, ‘The Wolf’ and ‘Crazy Love’ was featured on ‘BBC Introducing’ playlist. Ariff mentioned in his interview with the Malay Mail that;

“I always wrote my songs based on life experience and observation on people around me, and with a mixture of pain and inspiration”                                   

Source: Facebook, Maravilla Ariff AB

 Ariff AB’s type of music is well-received in the UK and it’s proven when he was offered to do a UK tour for two months around England in which he played at different venues almost every day. He also performed at the Oxjam Islington 2016 festival. There is nowhere to go but up for Ariff AB. He could be the next Yuna in the music industry and make Malaysia proud. You can listen to Ariff AB songs here.

Written by Nur Izzati Abdul Aziz

Vivy Sofinas Yusof, or better known as Vivy Yusof, is a beauty with brain and definitely the one and only. Her name alone has shown commercial value despite her famous brand, Fashion Valet, but nothing comes in second. She started as a blogger back in college when she was still in London. Vivy loves sharing about life, love, and fashion. Sounds typical, isn’t it? Vivy has a flair for writing and enticing people to keep on reading. She gathered hundreds to thousands of  followers since few years back as it was the only platform where people love to read or in another word being an “observer” because social media was still not in trend back then.

Some people said that you don’t need official business certificates to start a business and who would have thought this business minded lady is a law degree holder from London School of Economics and has no business and fashion background. While living in London, she enjoyed having the technologicaladvancement or to be exact ‘the advancement of shopping’. Vivy and her husband, Fadzarudin met when they were students in London, and shared the same passion for online shopping. When they returned home to Malaysia, they realized that they missed the convenience of online shopping as they enjoyed before in the UK. The story behind the idea of Fashion Valet sparked after they found that they had to drive all over Kuala Lumpur to find their favourite designer brand. They drove in the rain and found themselves frustrated that they were unable to have what they want under one roof. Hence, a new idea came from the hustle and frustration.

Starting a business with a new concept is never easy. People will hesitate and question you if not themselves whether it is the right thing to do or not. RTW (ready-to-wear) was not that big in 2010, and this is the concept Vivy tried to urge the designer to give a try and being skeptical was a normal reaction but nothing can stop this girl in becoming a wonder woman. From a RM100, 000 capital, 10 designers and a staff of 20, FV grew to 500 brands and hundreds of staffs in just seven years with offices in Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, and Jakarta. She did a lot of collaborations with local designers and not to mention international designers too such as from Singapore, Jakarta, Brunei, London and a few more. This is how Vivy did her marketing strategy in order to penetrate international market and followers other than in local. To prove how this woman is on another level, she’s making a bigger name by collaborating her label with the Brunei Royal Family, Princess Sarah the wife of Crown Prince of Brunei, Al-Muhtadee Billah, who is first in line to inherit the throne.

Being an urban career woman, Vivy definitely knows how to utilize all digital platforms such as social media to gain followers after blogging for more than a decade.  Vivy, as the face of the brand, does most of the marketing and PR for their brand. She’s not in the state of paying too much of their budget for advertisement as she knows her brand so well. She finds social media to be extremely powerful, something the older generation might find hard to grasp. Their target audience is mostly women between the ages of 20-40 – right in the cross-section of internet-savvy generations. It again comes back to knowing and having a connection with her customers which gives her an insight on what they want next. This is why people keep following her on Instagram just to know what’s new in the card. Vivy’s Instagram is more like a catalogue and wardrobe for other women. You got to pick what you want by just looking at her. As she knows people get bored easily, Vivy would do anything that will give a different insight on her brand and one of it is by trying new styles of marketing strategy. Vivy also stars in her own reality TV show that follows her daily life called ‘Love, Vivy’ which is already in Season 2. This program helps with their sales as it is a “soft-sell” way of marketing their brand not just in Malaysia but in neighboring countries where it airs as well.

Knowing that she has already gained thousands of followers on social media, Vivy took another step to launch her own label, ‘dUCk’. Inspired by her blog name, ‘Proudduck’, Vivy and her team starts to launch dUCk Shawl as her first dUCk product. The response was massive. People queued just to get her product even when the price tag might make your eyes swirled. Vivy can even sell her shawl with more than thousand ringgit and it still sold out. She definitely brought the price tag of a shawl to another level. Knowing her target market very well, Vivy expand her product to make-up, handbag and many more and everything sold out whenever she did a product launch. She managed to set a benchmark that even a local product can become a premium brand.

Vivy is one of Malaysia’s iron lady, a wife, and a mom of three who shows you that you can become a successful person at a young age. Being nominated in Forbes for 30 under 30, there’s no other thing to prove that she is such an inspirational role model to young generation. She won’t stop as she will always be bringing more to the crowd. She is definitely a “Dreamgirl to Wonderland”.